Ted Cruz 2016: The First Ads

As he promised, shortly after midnight Sen. Ted Cruz told his supporters that he is running for president. The official public announcement comes today in Virgina. Via the Washington Post:

Cruz is scheduled to give the convocation at Liberty University on Monday. By selecting the school, a private Christian college founded by the fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell, as the site for his announcement, Cruz is sending a clear signal to conservative Republican primary voters about his candidacy and his political positioning heading into the race.He has assiduously courted evangelicals and other social conservatives as part of an attempt to build a coalition of conservatives frustrated with Republican Party elders in Washington. The choice of venue also underscores Cruz’s intention to actively court young conservatives. Last month, he told a group of mostly 20- and 30-somethings at CPAC to be “entrepreneurs for liberty” and spread his message of conservatism with a smile.“If we carry young people, we can turn this entire country around,” he said. A Cruz aide said the campaign chose to announce at Liberty because it is the largest Christian university in the world and has an extensive base of activist alumni — many of whom live in Cruz’s home state of Texas.